SakuRei Summer
by Kali Shima
Summary: A one shot about a red miko's sickness and the tender care from an elegant maid.


It was an unusually hot summer day in Gensokyo. The yellow glow from the morning sun illuminated the clean Hakurei Shrine grounds, giving off a very sharp and painful glare. Reimu Hakurei was sitting on her shrine veranda slowly fanning herself with a fan. Beside her, Suika Ibuki was drinking from her endless sake gourd.

"Urgh, this is too hot," Reimu groaned. Despite the shade of the building, the intense humidity was causing her to sweat profusely from her exposed armpits. Her shirt stuck to her back in several wet places, and her shrine skirt was starting to feel disgusting. Suika stopped chugging to briefly answer to the red miko.

"Maybe it's an incident," The oni drunkenly replied. Reimu put her fan down and laid flat on the warm wooden platform. It was not much better than fanning herself, but the sun's rays were burning her legs now.

"Maybe," She murmured, the deadly heat sapping away her strength to talk. They lapsed into silence as the day continued to grow hotter.

.

.

Reimu woke up with a start. Something felt very, _very_ wrong. First, she didn't realize that she had fallen asleep. Second, she was not at the shrine anymore. She was inside a dark room with scarlet red décor and lying in a bed with an overhanging transparent sheet. A lavish mirror hung above a drawer on her right, and there were closed red curtains to her left. She saw very faint sunlight emit from under them. A carved wooden door stood directly in front of her on the far opposite wall. Although unfamiliar with her surroundings, it was enough for Reimu to recognize where she was.

 _The Scarlet Devil Mansion,_ Reimu thought. But, how did she get here? Why was she lying in a bed, and what the hell was going on!? Her train of thought abruptly halted by the door opening. The head maid of the SDM, Sakuya Izayoi, walked in carrying a bundle of towels.

"Sakuya?" Reimu tried to speak and get up, but her body did not seem to listen to her. And it was beginning to feel way too hot in the dark bedroom. Sakuya noticed the red miko struggling to move and put her bundle on the drawer. She walked over to Reimu and gently pressed her down.

"No, Reimu. You must rest." Reimu protested the soft but strong hands that pushed her down, but suddenly, her head started to spin. She collapsed back into the bed, feeling overwhelming nausea and sickness everywhere in her head and body. Sakuya quickly produced a wet cloth and applied it to the sick girl's forehead.

"You have heatstroke Reimu," The maid said. "Please, allow me to tend to you until you are back to normal." But Reimu only faintly heard her through her haze. She sank into a looming void darkness and passed out.

The red miko wasn't sure how long she remained in that room for. She faded in and out of consciousness, too weak to do anything. But Sakuya was always there. She would periodically cool her with ice bags and wet cloths, and she patiently fed her until Reimu couldn't stomach any more food. Several times, the maid assisted Reimu in taking in Eirin Yagokoro's medicinal pills that were crushed and dissolved in water. And, more embarrassingly for Reimu if she was in her regular state of mind, Sakuya wiped her full body down every day to clean away the built up sweat and grime.

It was a few weeks before Reimu finally felt some control over her body again. Her body did not feel as hot, and she was able to move her arms a little. With Reimu now showing signs of physical recovery, Sakuya started to help her gain back all of her strength, adding several warmups and exercises to her daily medicinal routine.

"Careful, Reimu," the maid said softly as she helped Reimu practice walking again throughout her room. Sakuya gently led her back to the bed, and Reimu exhaustingly sat down on it. Sakuya briefly stopped time to get a wet cloth from somewhere and gently wiped the miko's face with it. Reimu watched the maid's face as she did her thing. Her eyebrows were furrowed in slight concentration, but her eyes shown a strangely tender emotion.

"Sakuya" Reimu said before she could stop herself. "Why are you helping me?"

The maid paused very briefly before continuing to wipe away her sweat again.

"I would do it for anyone who is in need," she said simply. But Reimu noticed a slightly change on her face afterwards. It was something that she had never seen before in the polite and dignified maid.

The recovery was long, but finally, after nearly a month, Reimu was back to her old self. She and Sakuya now stood outside the large, front double doors of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Reimu raised her arms and stretched outwards.

"Man, it feels good to out and about again," Reimu said happily.

"Indeed it does." Reimu dropped her arms and turned towards her caretaker.

"This had been bugging me for a while, but why was I taken here? And what happened to my shrine?" Sakuya thought for a moment and gave a tiny smile.

"Hmm. Let's just say that your oni noticed too late that you were very ill and flew to the nearest person she could find. I happened to be returning from the human village when she caught me. And I brought you here so I could take better care of your health." Sakuya bowed. "The oni took care of your house while you were gone, I presume."

"Well, that's comforting," Reimu muttered. Suika most likely let her shrine fall into disrepair or gone off somewhere else to party. Either way, she was not looking forward to the return home and seeing the current status of it. She bowed also.

"Thank you for taking care of me, Sakuya."

Reimu turned and prepared to fly. Suddenly, she remembered the little incident in the bedroom. She turned back to the maid.

"Do you happen to like me?" Her question got a bit of a reaction out of the usually calm maid. Her pace clearly thrown off, Sakuya started to stutter.

"What? N-no, I don't like you, I lo..." she said. She caught herself just barely and regained her composure.

"Whether or not I like you is none of your concern," she replied very stiffly. But Reimu saw the very faint traces of a blush appear for the second time on Sakuya's face. The red miko smiled inwardly.

"Uhuh." Reimu stepped closer to the maid.

"Well, the next time I'm sick, I wouldn't mind if you came by and...helped me again," Reimu said. The red miko slightly flushed at what she just said without thinking. Sakuya looked at her in surprise and then smiled warmly.

"It would be my pleasure, Reimu."


End file.
